Installation of conduit for low voltage wiring for computers and security cameras ongoing

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This project will provide the Silver Spring community with a new library located within the CBD. The new library will be approximately 63,000 gross square feet in size and is intended to meet the unique requirements of an increasingly urban, ethnically and culturally diverse residential and business community. A site selection committee was formed in January of 2001 to recommend a potential site that meets an established set of criteria. The CIP includes planning and construction money for this project. The project will also include an art studio and gallery on the lower floors. The project will be a LEED Silver building. Montgomery County prepared an RFP to solicit interest from developers interested in constructing a residential project adjacent to the future library. Donohoe and MH Partners were selected and will be working with the county to develop and construct this residential project, due to break ground soon. The State has also expressed an interest in incorporating a Purple Line station into this project and the County is actively coordinating with the MTA and Purple Line team.

Public Meetings:

Four charettes were held between April and July 2009 to obtain community feedback on the exterior building and open space design for the Silver Spring Library Building. A fifth public meeting was held November 7, 2009 to present more defined exterior and public space designs to the community. The architect’s presentations and notes from each charrette and meeting can be found in the Library Design Charrettes section below. A meeting held in August 2010 solicited comments from the community about options to be investigated to bring the cost of the building within the budget. A final meeting was held in November 2010 to present the design resulting for the studied options.

Architecture

The design of the Silver Spring Library will be determined through a charrette process seeking to obtain input from as many interested participants as possible.

What is a Charrette?

The French word “charrette” means “cart” and is often used to describe concentrated work effort expended by art and architecture students to meet a project deadline. This use of the term is said to originate from the École des Beaux Arts in Paris during the 19th century, where proctors circulated a cart, or “charrette,” to collect drawings from the students.

The resulting design should be a significant, positive addition to the Silver Spring community.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the timeline for the project?

Project documents were issued for bid in August 2012. The bid period is about 30 to 45 days. Bids were received from the pre-qualified contractors on November 7, 2012 and the lowest bids were within budget. The contract was awarded to Costello Construction, the lowest bidder. The County’s procedural issues (checking insurance and bond information) was completed prior to signing the contract and issuing the notice to proceed. The building construction started shortly thereafter, January 7, 2013.

Construction is planned to last 22 months followed by up to 8 weeks for the Library to actually move in all the books and media collections

The construction of the project was divided into two phases; the first was the utility relocation work, followed by the actual construction of the building. This allowed us to get a head start on the construction by completing the utility relocation while we continued to design and document the building.

The utility relocation work is now complete; The County has relocated both the storm and sanitary sewers and has built conduit under the roadway for the “dry” utilities to relocate their cables from the telephone poles along Wayne Ave. The utility companies, Pepco, Verizon and Comcast, have finished relocating their cables.

Fenton Street has been repaved and the parking meters have been reinstalled along Bonifant Street.

The construction drawings were submitted to the Department of Permitting Services for review in April 2012 and we have a building permit.

We conducted a pre-qualification review of general contractors interested in bidding on the project, through the County’s REOI process (Request for Expression of Interest). This was completed and 8 contractors were pre-qualified and were eligible to bid on the project

How much will the project cost in total? Where is this funding coming from?

The County Council has approved $69,529,000 for the entire project which includes the purchase of the land, utility relocation and upgrades, actual building construction, furniture and equipment, security, telephone systems and computers, new books and media, and consultant fees, permit costs.

The funding comes from G.O. Bonds, General Revenue, and Pay-go and State grants.

What are the dimensions of the building? How many square feet, floors, etc.?

The building is five floors plus a basement. The footprint of the first floor is split by the right-of-way for the future Purple Line light rail resulting in a main building to the west of the ROW and the “Pavilion” to the right, along Fenton Street. These join up at the third floor.

The floors vary in size, but the gross area of the overall building is about 90,000 square feet.

There are two entrances into the building from Wayne Avenue, both of which provides access to elevators up to the Library and to the building generally. There is another entrance from Fenton Street directly to the third floor, which is the entry floor for the library.

The Library occupies the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor is the entry floor to the library and access is provided from the Wayne Ave entrance and the Fenton Street Entrance.

The third floor houses the meeting rooms, media collection, the Young Adult area, the Disability Resource Center and the main circulation work area.

The 4th floor is the location for the adult collections with a large quiet study room overlooking part of Silver Spring.

The 5th floor is the children’s floor with an integrated early learning area, program room, tutor rooms and another meeting room.

There are computer workstations throughout the entire building as well as seating and electric outlets for those who choose to bring their own laptops or tablets.

Pyramid Atlantic, the non-profit art group, occupies part of the basement, part of the first floor and the second floor.

A coffee shop is planned for the first floor of the Pavilion.

What amenities will the building have? Any public meeting spaces or mixed use areas in the facility? If so, will the community be able to rent this space?

The Library has a number of meeting spaces of different sizes. These include public meeting rooms, tutor rooms, group study rooms, a quiet study room, a Children’s program room, and computer labs. The meeting rooms will be available to the public for a fee via the County’s on-line reservations (CUPS). The other rooms are for Library planned events or can be signed up at the library when not in use otherwise.

One of the guiding principals for the design of the building was flexibility. We wanted spaces to be able to be used in more than one way. The major meeting rooms on the third floor, which is the entry floor of the library, when not signed out for meetings can be used by the public as an area for casual computer use, with tables and outlets for them to bring their laptops and plug in.

The computer labs will be used to provide training classes but will be available for general use when classes are not being run.

The Children’s Program room, when not being used for a programmed event such as story-time, can be used by children and caregivers for other fun and educational learning.

The Library will also have a Disability Resource Center and DPL is working to develop the specific program for the use of the space.

Pyramid Atlantic will have an art gallery and a store located on the first level and offers classes to the public at the second floor studio space. They will also conduct workshops and classes for the Library on a regular basis.

The route of the future Purple Line crosses the site and a stop will be located under the overhang of the building at grade level.

A public open space is located next to the building fronting onto Bonifant Street which will have both paved areas and green space.

Green roofs are used at the top of the main building and the roof of the Pavilion. These are primarily for storm water management; the roof of the main building will be sedums and other low maintenance plants, but the roof of the Pavilion will be visible from the children’s floor and will be designed to be seen.

How many people will be employed by the library?

We anticipate 27 full time staff and 14 part time staff for shelving to be distributed over the time the Library will be open.